I thought being president would be easier, says Trump as he marks 100 days in office
US President Donald Trump has said he underestimated how difficult the job of commander-in-chief would be.
Mr Trump made the comment yesterday as he reflected on his first 100 days as president, and admitted he “loved” his previous life and “had so many things going”.
Comparatively he said his new role is “more work than in my previous life — I thought it would be easier”.
The president also lamented his loss of privacy, describing life in the White House as being in “your own little cocoon”.
He made his comments in an interview with Reuters, one of several to mark his first 100 days in office.
President Trump, who said he was accustomed to not having privacy in his “old life,” expressed surprise at how little he had now. And he made clear he was still getting used to having 24-hour Secret Service protection and its accompanying constraints.
“You’re really into your own little cocoon, because you have such massive protection that you really can’t go anywhere,” he said.
When the president leaves the White House, it is usually in a limousine or an SUV.
He said he missed being behind the wheel himself.
“I like to drive,” he said. “I can’t drive any more.”
As his 100-day milestone approaches, President Trump has plenty of trouble on his plate, both at home and abroad
The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a short-term spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown. The measure gives negotiators until next Friday to resolve final differences over a 1 trillion dollar (£773bn) bill financing federal agencies until September 30, the end of the fiscal year. The Senate is also expected to approve it and hand it to President Trump for his signature in time for federal facilities to continue to operate. But Congress did not vote yesterday on a revised Republican health care bill that has stalled because it lacks the required votes.
In the Far East, tensions continued to rise as North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un continued his sabre-rattling at the USA, China, South Korea and Japan. President Trump said he would like to see a diplomatic resolution to escalating tensions with North Korea, but fears “we could end up having a major, major conflict”.
He was speaking after his secretary of state Rex Tillerson said China had told the US that it had informed North Korea “that if they did conduct further nuclear tests, China would be taking sanctions actions on their own”.